Updated on April 21, 2017 at 8:45 AMPosted on April 21, 2017 at 8:37 AM

tropical storm arlene april 21 morning

Tropical Storm Arlene is moving quickly westward over the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said Friday morning (April 21). The storm doesn't pose a threat to land and is expected to dissipate later Friday. (Image via National Hurricane Center)

Tropical Storm Arlene is moving quickly westward over the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said Friday morning (April 21). The storm doesn't pose a threat to land and is expected to dissipate later Friday.

As of Friday morning, Arlene was 1,153 miles west-northwest of the Azores. It's moving west at 31 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 230 miles from the center.

Little change in strength is expected, and the National Hurricane Center expects Arlene to be absorbed Friday by a large extratropical low and then dissipate.

The storm arrives weeks before the 2017 hurricane season officially starts on June 1.

"Tropical storms in April are rare and Arlene is only the second one observed in this month," according to the hurricane center's forecast message. The last tropical storm to form in April was Ana in 2003.

"It should be noted, however, that this type of storm was practically impossible to detect prior to the weather satellite era," the National Hurricane Center said.